# Search

> Find any capture by typing words you remember from it.

- Page: https://resurf.so/guides/search
- Section: Find
- Works on: Mac, iPhone, iPad
- Last checked against the app: 2026-10-17
- Open: `⌘F` on Mac

## Search your library

Search looks in the view you're in: the whole library, or the space you have open. The field says which.

On Mac:

1. Press `⌘F`, or click the magnifier at the right end of the library header.
2. Type. The library shows matches as you type.
3. Press `Return` to keep the words as a chip, or pick a suggestion to add a filter. The bar stays open for the next one.
4. Chips show under the library title. Remove one with its ×, or click **Clear** to remove them all.

On iPhone and iPad:

1. Tap **Search your library…** at the top of the library. Suggestion pills appear under it.
2. Type. The library shows the results after a short pause.
3. Press `Return` to keep the words as a chip, or tap a pill to add a filter.
4. Tap × at the right of the field to close search.

Video: [Search narrowing the library to dashboard captures, then adding calendar as a second chip, then clearing.](https://resurf.so/guides/clips/clip-search.mp4)

On Mac, `⌘K` opens the same bar, where you can also type a command.

## What search looks in

Search reads more than titles. It looks in:

- Titles, descriptions and your note.
- The text of notes, saved articles and PDFs, scanned pages included.
- Words in images and screenshots.
- Transcripts.
- AI summaries, comments and highlights.
- Tags, space names and authors.
- The web address, site, source app and file names.

Captures in the Trash are left out.

Text read from a page, PDF, image or recording is added once it's ready, so a new capture can take a moment to show up by what's inside it.

## How words match

- Part of a word is enough: “kern” finds “kerning”. Capital letters don't matter.
- Words typed together are one phrase: “design system” finds those words side by side, in that order.
- To find captures with either of two words, press `Return` after each one. Each becomes a chip, and a capture that matches any word chip shows.
- While you search, the order is **Best match**: a match in the title ranks highest, then tags, spaces, the site and the web address, then anything else.

## Search inside a PDF

On Mac, `⌘F` searches the open PDF instead of your library.

1. Open a PDF capture and press `⌘F`, or click the magnifier in its toolbar.
2. Type in **Find in PDF**. It shows which match you're on.
3. Press `Return` for the next match and `⇧Return` for the previous one, or use the arrows.
4. Press `Esc` or click × to close it.

To search your library while a PDF is open, press `⌘K` or close the PDF.

## Questions

### Where is the search field on Mac?

Click the magnifier at the right of the library header, or press ⌘F. It opens the search bar, where you type.

### Why is there no search button in the Inbox?

It's hidden there. ⌘F still opens search.

### Why does a search with a color name show only images?

A color name such as orange or rose turns into a color filter, which keeps only images and color captures. Leave the color word out to search the rest.

## More guides

- Next: [Filters](https://resurf.so/guides/filters.md)
- [Filters](https://resurf.so/guides/filters.md): Narrow the library by tag, space, type, color, date or status.
- [Sort and shuffle](https://resurf.so/guides/sort.md): Change the order of your library: newest first, recently updated, best match or random.
- [Quick Search](https://resurf.so/guides/quick-search.md): Search your library from any app on your Mac.
- [Similar captures](https://resurf.so/guides/similar.md): See captures that look or read like the one you're on, from anywhere in your library.
- [Search by meaning](https://resurf.so/guides/meaning-search.md): Find captures that match what you mean, not only the words you typed.
- [Resurface widget](https://resurf.so/guides/resurface-widget.md): A widget that brings back one capture at a time and changes every three hours.
- [Every guide](https://resurf.so/llms.txt)